Kennedy Had Chappaquiddick, Cheney Has Kingsville

[nashuaadvocate]

I can't believe anyone thinks this story should die down.

This was not a political incident. This was a criminal investigation horribly bungled and a cover-up so flimsy no law enforcement officer genuinely interested in the truth could fail to see it.

We spent months talking about O.J., and only a few days talking about this, despite it being perhaps the most sensational criminal investigation to be conducted since Watergate.

Cheney's victory, here, was not in convincing the country that his delay was reasonable, it was in depicting the criminal justice system as one in which a shooting incident is either an "accident" or "intentional." By that logic, there would--of course--be no story here.

Just one problem: in the criminal justice system, you can be charged for "recklessness" or "negligence" with a firearm, and every single fact about this case suggests that Cheney was reckless at worst and negligent at best: the lateness of the hour; the elevation of the shot; the 180-degree turn before the shot; the mixing of alcohol with prescription medication within the past several hours; the failure to follow NRA guidelines regarding clear shots; the failure to respond to police inquiries in a timely fashion; the dishonesty of the suspect's alleged "exculpatory" witnesses; a cover-up extending from the Corpus Christi Hospital to the Kenedy County Sheriff's Department.

If criminal law fanatics like Nancy Grace--or, really, any primetime cable news host--had any sense of fair play, they'd be covering this story like the bungled criminal investigation and subsequent cover-up it undoubtedly was.

This is bigger than O.J., period (AS A MATTER OF NEWSWORTHINESS, NOT EGREGIOUSNESS).

And, given that Cheney is as powerful as the President, and is undoubtedly the most powerful VP in history, it is as big as Chappaquiddick (i.e., less egregious but still egregious facts, but a much more powerful political personage involved).

For those who would say that no one died in the Kingsville Affair, I say this: it is incumbent upon you to explain what it is, other than luck, which saved Mr. Whittington's life. Did Dick Cheney do anything, in shooting Mr. Whittington, which ensured the man wouldn't die? No, and in fact everything from the distance between the two men to the nature of Mr. Whittington's injuries suggest that, as one blogger put it, "Dick nearly blew the man's head off." You simply don't estimate the size of a story based on the number of dead bodies attached to it; Cheney's behavior in the Kingsville Affair was reckless, perhaps criminally so, and could easily have led to the same number of casualties as the Chappaquiddick Affair did: 1.

[havocmom]

1. ::chuckle:: you do , ahem, turn a phrase well

:popcorn:

[Webster Green]

2. It's discouraging how these people define what reality will be...

And we have to just live with it.

[Poppyseedman]

3. LOL

perhaps the most sensational criminal investigation to be conducted since Watergate.

You can't be serious???

Granted, this incident does need a closer look, but come on. "Watergate"

[nashuaadvocate]

4. Poppy, you misunderstand, I'm talking not about what it *was*...

...but what it would have been, had Cheney been--as he would have been in my state--cuffed and placed in the back of a cruiser, to be followed by a felony indictment and the constitutional necessity of an impeachment.

Stick those images in your mind.

Now tell me the last criminal investigation (other than, say, 9/11) of that level of newsworthiness.

[NYCGirl]

5. Big difference between OJ/Chappaquiddick, and this —

People died in the other instances. OJ, it was murder. Chappaquiddick, it was accidental.

[nashuaadvocate]

7. See the addendum to my post. No one died here because of...

...LUCK.

The conduct itself was as dangerous as Kennedy's.

And let's be VERY clear--I compared this to OJ only in terms of the media attention it deserves. I did NOT say this should be compared to two gruesome murders.

S.

[NYCGirl]

8. No, that's stretching it. Cheney was reckless — and there should

be answers for why the delay, but it in no way compares to Chappaquiddick or OJ.

[nashuaadvocate]

9. That's crazy--if he was reckless, it's a felony.

And tell me how the sitting Vice President committing a felony is less NEWSWORTHY than the O.J. story.

And while I conceded that it would still be less egregious Chappaquiddick (see the original post), can you explain to me how it would be less NEWSWORTHY?

[NYCGirl]

10. Fine. It's in the news. It's been in the news. It's newsworthy.

What's the problem?

If you're looking for Cheney being dragged through the streets in cuffs, you're going to be disappointed.

[nashuaadvocate]

11. The problem is:

The investigation lasted: under 24 hours.

The news coverage lasted: under 1 week.

When I think of how, say, the disappearance of a girl in Aruba was covered every single day for FOUR MONTHS, I realize just how hoodwinked we've been, here.

[NYCGirl]

12. If Whittington isn't going to press charges, what can we do?

The damage is done in the court of public opinion. Cheney has had an approval rate of 19% — it can't get much lower.

[nashuaadvocate]

15. One thought...

...Kenedy County re-opened their investigation during the beginning of this week due to the media outcry (now they've closed it again).

So, it's the MEDIA who should be getting pushed on this one: a single question to Armstrong--"Did you personally observe everything that happened here, and if so, how, and if so, why did you say the first thing you saw was the security detail for Mr. Cheney running and you thought he'd had a heart attack?"--would blow this story open again.

When a woman who's made herself available to the press is obviously LYING, it takes only one question to expose the entire cover-up. Why does the media decry the cover-up and then not ask the ONE QUESTION which would expose it?

[NYCGirl]

16. They can ask it, but who's going to force her to answer? She's a

private citizen.

[nashuaadvocate]

17. That's the beauty of it.

She CAN'T refuse to answer without creating an even bigger story.

Because she's already claimed to be an eyewitness, she can't now clam up when she's called on her own statements which show that she wasn't.

[marions ghost]

19. when it's not a legal defense

they don't talk.

[MrPrax]

6. That's nuts...

OJ? Kennedy? People died in those incidents? Who died here?

Chappaquiddick doesn't fit...that was far more disgusting than this.

[marions ghost]

18. 2 people died...OK...

one from recklessness and one from homicide. (Homicide, we ASSUME, does not apply in the Cheney case...)
So let's look at reckless behavior then.

Can you understand how many can die if justice is not fairly served in instances such as the Whittington shooting? No investigation, no nothin. As the OP says, the only reason Whittington didn't die was incredible luck, and a top medical team on site didn't hurt either. He has suffered a very traumatic event, make no mistake.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way is on life support. Integrity in leaders is a joke. Many deaths have and will result. Think a little bigger. And you can possibly see why this IS a story, and a story that should not die.

[MrPrax]

23. Still crazy...

The only real connection with Chappaquiddick and Cheney is that it occurred in highly partisan regions of the country, where a whole bunch of partisan people covered up aspects of the story.

BUT BUT--Whittington is alive...moreover I assume that anytime testosterone Alpha Males get together with booze and guns, shit happens...whereas being a little cute female, working as an envelop licker for a candidate you think is cute, shouldn't be a 'death sentence'.

OLD JOKE ALERT!!

Mary Jo: Teddy...there's something I have to tell you...I'm pregnant...
Teddy: oh dear...
Mary Jo: what do you want to do about it?
Teddy: well...we'll cross that bridge when we get there

Ta-dum

[Jayhawk Lib]

20. Agree 100%

This is getting blown clear out of proportion.

[marions ghost]

21. OK so you're Ok with

how this was handled? Nobody telling the truth, nobody really needs to know, no investigation, no following procedures, no accountability...kind of how they run the government. This is fine with you?

[Jayhawk Lib]

24. It was a hunting accident...

No more no less. One of those things that should not happen but does. The man was rushed to the hospital and survived. End of story...

With so much screwed up in this administration lets concentrate on them. Examples; Plamegate, nsa, oil prices, Iraq war, possible war with Iran, medicare prescription scam. I could go on and on but we have heard very little about them since Cheney's hunting accident. Lets put it behind us and get to the things that really matter....

[marions ghost]

26. No way. Hunting accidents

are investigated.

If you have ever been a victim in any sense, you will know that this incident not being properly investigated is a flagrant violation of law that does not serve victims well. In handling it this way Cheney thumbs his nose at the average American who does not get such special treatment. Too often the wealthy and powerful sidestep the laws, right on up to the examples you list.

Far from "end of story" --this IS a graphic example of exactly how they operate. Judging from your and other reactions here, this is being missed. You've got to make the connection between "everyday bidness," "just a little reckless hunting," and "keepin it all between friends"--ie. the corruption that is corroding this country from within at every level--and what goes on at a national/international level. In fact you could argue that it would make MORE sense to look at what's really going on at a local & state level. That's where it begins. That's the breeding ground for these pigs.

[zbdent]

13. Kennedy had a liberal media to "cover up the story" so that nobody

knows what you're talking about when you say "Chappaquiddick", whereas Dick Cheney has, um, er, . . .

:sarcasm:

[NYCGirl]

14. The funny thing is —

that back in the 60's, the media WAS Liberal.

[EST]

22. Seems the replies are all missing your point.

This crazy bastard only missed killing someone by sheer luck. He did all the right things; his behavior was aimed toward the kill. Had his quarry been ten feet closer, there would have been nothing but a bloody, ragged hole where his neck was supposed to be.

At his (Cheney's) mature years, one expects more thought and less action. That's why we have age limits on national public office. In light of his office, his supposed maturity and the weight of the faith the nation has bestowed on him, his actions were more egregious than the other examples you mentioned.

He did the crime, and only through happenstance did he avoid worse results. The man is not equipped for ANY office of power. He should be summarily removed. Actually, this entire administration is guilty of such criminal behavior they should all be summarily executed, or at least, imprisoned for life, and their associates and family barred from public office forever.

This is not the words of blind partisanship, but those of a concerned citizen of mature years.

[no_hypocrisy]

25. Interestingly, the "accident" happened in Kennedy County, Texas. n/t

[nashuaadvocate]

27. It's actually "Kenedy." What IS interesting, however...

...is that the town it happened in is so thoroughly "owned" by the Armstrong family it is actually called...

...Armstrong.